A. GENERAL
1. What's this FAQ about?
This FAQ is a list of questions which are frequently asked about authenticity and its practice within the SCA.
It is the product of one author, me, Kirrily Robert (known in the SCA as Katherine Rowberd), and reflects my opinions alone. The questions are drawn from things I've been asked, or seen asked, both at SCA events and online.
2. Where can I find the FAQ?
This FAQ can be found at http://katrowberd.elizabethangeek.com/articles/
3. How can I contact the author?
The author can be contacted at katherine@elizabethangeek.com.
4. Can I reproduce this FAQ?
This FAQ may be reproduced online or in print for non-profit use within the SCA, as long as it is reproduced *in full* and with this section intact.
If you wish to reproduce it in any other form, please contact the author.
B. ABOUT AUTHENTICITY
1. Is authenticity an all-or-nothing proposition?
No. There are shades of authenticity, ranging from slightly authentic to very authentic. While most people who are interested in authenticity would like to aim for 100% accuracy, it's pretty much impossible to achieve. So most people go for a level of authenticity that's as good as they can manage within the constraints of their time, budget, interest, skill and availability of resources.
2. What is Cariadoc's Maxim?
It's a name I just made up for something Cariadoc talks about from time to time: "Making the best the enemy of the good". OK, so that means that nobody would have asked that question, and it probably shouldn't be in the FAQ, but I wanted to give the answer anyway.
"Making the best the enemy of the good" is what happens when you say "I'll never be able to do it perfectly, so I might as well not bother". This is how we end up with lime green polyester T-tunics. The alternative approach is to say "I'll never be able to do it perfectly, but I can at have a go and see if I can make something that's heading in the right direction" and so we end up with, perhaps, a gored tunic on a slightly more accurate pattern, made from a wool blend or a nicely-draping cotton in a more likely colour. Still not the "best" it could be, but certainly "good".
3. Why don't you like to use the word "period"?
(Another question that wouldn't have been asked if I hadn't asked it myself. Oh well.)
The word "period", as used in the SCA, means "in use in Europe, or places that had contact with Europe, before 1600" -- a very broad sweep of geography and history. Saying that something is "period" is often used as a reasoning for using it, despite the fact that it might be inappropriate in context. For instance, three period things are norse longboats, middle eastern dance and guns. That doesn't mean that it's appropriate to have a longboat full of middle eastern dancers carrying guns, but saying "they're all period!" could theoretically be used as an excuse for doing so within the SCA.
On a similar note, sometimes people ask questions like "did they wear high heels in period?" or "was cotton used in period" or "did they eat sugary sweets in period" and the answer to all of these is "yes, but only in certain places at certain times".
Rather than ask whether something's period, or tell someone that something is period, it's often better to specify a time and place. For instance, "was cotton used in 14th century England?" or "Is it accurate for an 11th century spaniard to eat pork?"
4. Surely you don't want to recreate *everything* about the middle ages accurately? What about plague, religious intolerance, and other unpleasant things?
As mentioned before, most authenticity mavens choose a level of authenticity that works for them. Almost invariably, this means making allowances for modern health and safety concerns and for the cultural expectations of the modern people who play in the SCA.
Some examples of modern health considerations are wearing corrective glasses or modern shoes with more support than medieval shoes. Most people will take modern medications and treat injuries with modern first aid techniques. Very few authenticists forego modern showers, toilets, or other sanitary facilities.
On the safety front, SCA law and common sense dictate that we have fire extinguishers handy, wear fencing masks, and do other things which may not have been known in the middle ages.
Culturally, the most obvious differences are in religion, social class and the treatment of women. The SCA specifically forbids religious activities as part of an official SCA event, though individuals and small groups may observe their religious rituals discreetly (usually off to the side, or in their own encampments) and there is nothing stopping an individual from having a religious persona. Social class in the SCA is assumed to be noble or at least gentle unless specified otherwise, and there are few paupers, servants or beggars to be seen. Women in the SCA are permitted to take part equally in any activity that men enjoy.
However, among the authenticity-minded there is (in my experience) a broader range of social class, a greater understanding of religion's effect on persona (and a slight tendency to own religious items or perform minor religious observances), and a greater likelihood that traditional gender roles will be observed at least some of the time.
5. Do you have to stay in-persona if you want to be authentic?
The quick answer is "No".
Staying in persona is also called "first person interpretation" in living history circles, because you talk about your persona in the first person: "I am a nobleman at the court of King Henry. I like pie." The alternative is "third-person interpretation", in which you refer to historical people in the third person: "Noblemen at the court of King Henry like pie."
There are benefits and disadvantages to each approach. The main benefits of first-person interpretation are that you can feel as if you're "really there", and that it can help you gain a deeper understanding of how your persona might have lived. The disadvantages are that you can't do anything that your persona couldn't do, and that it's hard to talk to other people because you lack a shared vocabulary and experience. For instance, if someone asked me "What is that you're wearing?" the first-person answer would be "a gown" whereas the third-person answer would be "a 16th century English merchant-class gown". If the questioner then asked me where I got it from, my persona would answer "the tailor" whereas I would answer "from a pattern in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion". Personas don't know anything about the modern sources we use for our re-creation, nor do they necessarily refer to their location, time period, or culture as we do. An Elizabethan lady would not have thought of herself as living in the Elizabethan or Tudor period.
Another serious problem with first person interpretation is related to the previous question on historically accurate unpleasantness. How would a crusader react to meeting a middle eastern persona? How would an Islamic persona react to seeing unveiled women? How would a Catholic react to Protestants? It is seldom appropriate to play these roles authentically within the SCA, though some people do use some of these aspects of their personas in a more light-hearted way. ("Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics!")
In the end, it's up to you whether you choose first person or third person interpretation, or a combination of the two. A combination is perhaps the most common solution.
6. Do you have to document everything to be authentic?
That depends what you mean. No, you don't need to carry around a sheaf of paperwork for everything you do -- after all, medieval people didn't carry around a sheaf of paperwork to prove that their hose were the right kind, or to hand out to everyone they told a story to. The only time you need to present documentation per se is if you want to explain your hose or your story to other people and want to provide some printed material, references, etc to back up what you tell them. That usually means if you're entering it in a competition or running a class.
On the other hand, you may wish to write documentation as part of your own private research process. As you read books, visit museums, or practice techniques for some project you're working on, it can often be useful to note down what you've learnt as you do it. That means that if, at a later date, you do want to run a class or enter a competition, you will have your references prepared already and won't have to go back and try to reconstruct them from your imperfect memory.
7. OK then, do you have to research everything to be authentic?
Ah, now that's a different question. Research and documentation are not the same thing. Research is a process, documentation is one of the products of that process. (The other product is probably your own re-creation of whatever it is you're researching.)
Generally speaking, we can't assert that something is authentic without doing research to back up that assertion. Sometimes someone else will have done the research already, and we can base our work on theirs, but that's what's called a "secondary source" (or in some cases a tertiary source), and most people into authenticity prefer to get as close the the original source (the "primary source") as possible.
A quick tangent on the subject of sources: a tunic dug up from a bog is a primary source. A paper written about that tunic is a secondary source. A Tournaments Illuminated article which references that paper and other secondary sources is a tertiary source. There is some debate as to whether a contemporary painting of a garment is a primary or secondary source. Some would consider it to be a secondary source for costuming but a primary source for painting. Others would say that it depends on how real to life the painting is -- for instance, Hans Holbein's extremely detailed and lifelike paintings of the costume of the Tudor court might be considered a better source for costuming than the cartoon-like picture of a person in the margins of a 12th century illuminated manuscript.
Anyway, those who seek to be authentic in their re-creations aim to get as close to primary sources as is possible, within the usual constraints of cost, availability, time, and degree of personal interest. You can choose to skimp on research if you want, but be aware that the research is directly correlated to how much faith we can put in something as an authentic re-creation. If you haven't researched it enough to feel pretty sure about it, don't say it's authentic.
8. Isn't authenticity just a cover for elitism?
One charge often laid against authenticity mavens is that we think we're better than everyone else. The response to this is both "yes" and "no". On the one hand, it's natural for any group to think they're better than other groups -- look at how supporters of one sports team feel about supporters of opposing teams, or how one SCA kingdom feels about other SCA kingdoms -- and authenticists are no better in that regard. On the other hand, authenticists are often accused of having holier-than-thou attitudes when they're just being enthusiastic about their interest. Just as fighters will try to encourage people to try out armored combat, or people will try to encourage newcomers to take a persona in their favoured period, authenticity fans will try to encourage people to take up authenticity. It's normal, and it's no different than what any other group do, except that people seem to be more defensive about it. Authenticity mavens can try to be tactful, and others can try not to be too defensive, but eventually it all just comes down to human nature and human weakness -- of which authenticity-oriented SCAdians have just as much as anyone else.
C. QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE SCA
1. What are the authenticity standards of the SCA?
The SCA's governing documents say that to participate in an official SCA event you must make "an attempt at pre-17th-century costume". That's it.
2. Can an individual or group within the SCA impose higher standards?
An individual can impose whatever standards s/he likes upon him or herself. A group of individuals who are not an official SCA group (such as a friendship group, household, guild, etc) may impose similar standards on themselves.
An official SCA group such as a Kingdom, Barony, etc, may be able to impose higher standards through the passing of laws, Royal or Baronial decree, etc. However, doing so may have social and political implications which make it interesting to impose or enforce these standards.
3. How can authenticity be encouraged?
The three main ways in which authenticity can be encouraged are by setting an example, talking to people about it, and by running classes.
By setting an example, I do not mean taking a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, just do your authentic stuff, show people who are interested, talk about it to anyone who asks, and demonstrate that it's possible and even easy.
When talking to people about authenticity, it's often useful to point out that the authentic methods can be easier or cheaper than modern methods (for instance, a authentic bog tunic takes less fabric than an inauthentic t-tunic). Encourage people to start out small, and remind them that this is how they can get a feel for what the middle ages were really like.
Classes occur at many SCA events and meetings, and vary widely in how advanced or detailed they are. You don't have to be a huge expert to run a class. It can be as simple as sitting in a circle with half a dozen people and telling them about how you made something, or showing them the steps to a dance, or inviting a small group to help you cook an authentic meal and providing them with photocopies of the recipes afterwards. If you want to run classes, a good first point of contact is your local Arts and Sciences officer, or the stewards of any teaching-oriented events in your area.
4. What steps have been taken to improve authenticity within the SCA?
The SCA has improved in authenticity over time. Many of the things we do now are more authentic than they were originally.
Improvement has occurred both on an individual level and among some of the official groups and activities within the SCA. Examples include:
- The College of Heralds now require more documentation to demonstrate that a submitted name is suitably authentic.
- Fighters are far more likely to wear period-style armour these days. Freon cans and motorcycle helmets are a thing of the past and indeed are no longer permitted at all.
- Most Kingdoms use authenticity as part of the judging criteria for A&S competitions.
- Most SCA feast cooks serve period dishes or at least do not use grossly out-of-period or New World foods such as potatoes.
- Many people have medieval style pavilions and tents for camping.
- Many dance groups within the SCA are phasing out grossly out of period dances (especially 19th century folk dances) and some are either cutting back on slightly OOP dances (such as those from the first edition of Playford's English Dancing Master, 1651) or are actively encouraging the teaching and learning of pre-1600 dances.
- Internet mailing lists exist for just about every topic of interest to an SCA authenticity buff, and have encouraged people to discuss and learn about authenticity in many fields.
5. What are the origins of some of the inauthentic SCA practices?
"The Eric" is a term used for the list field or tourney field in some regions. This term originated in the West Kingdom very early in the SCA's history, when the list field was delineated by a red rope. The rope was referred to as "Eric the Red" and the name came to be extended to mean the whole field. A more correct term is "list field".
"Feastocrat" and other "-ocrat" titles come from the common use of "Autocrat" to mean the person who runs an event. Although the term autocrat predates 1600, it wasn't used to refer to someone organising a celebration or get-together. "Steward" is the term preferred by many authenticity fans, and terms such as "Head Cook" can be substituted for just about any other "-ocrat" word.
The term "troll", meaning the person who staffs the entrance to an SCA event, is based on the mythical beast who hides under bridges and demands payment of a toll from travellers. A more historical term would be "porter" or "gatekeeper".
SCA ranks and titles are a tangled mishmash of terms and practices from the middle ages, more recent history, fantasy, and a large dose of stuff that's just purely SCA.
T-tunics are recommended by the Known World Handbook and other SCA publications, websites, classes, etc. Although easy to make, they are both inauthentic and wasteful of fabric. A more authentic variant is the "bog tunic" or "St Louis tunic".
D. RESOURCES
1. What are some good online resources on authenticity?
Exactly what will be useful to you depends greatly on the time, place and subject you're looking for. Here are a few links to start you off.
Some general starting points:
- Cariadoc's Miscellany
- http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html
- Stefan's Florilegium
- http://www.florilegium.org/
- Greg Lindahl's various hosted book translation/transcriptions
- http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/
Mailing lists:
- Authentic_SCA
- http://yahoogroups.com/group/Authentic_SCA/
- Authentic_Ealdormere
- http://yahoogroups.com/group/Authentic_Ealdormere/
Costuming:
- Reconstructing History
- http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/
- Drea's Elizabethan Costume page
- http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/
- Cynthia du Pre Argent's costume articles
- http://www.virtue.to/articles/